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  • March 05, 2025

    Los Angeles County Sues SoCal Edison Over Eaton Fire

    Los Angeles County joined the many dozens suing Southern California Edison over the devastating Eaton Fire on Wednesday, as the most populous county in the United States alleges in its lawsuit that the utility's faulty equipment caused the destructive blaze.

  • March 05, 2025

    Claimed Church Leader Ruled To Owe $1.3M In Taxes

    A claimed church leader owes $1.3 million in tax debt after he was caught selling tax avoidance schemes, a Washington federal judge ruled Wednesday, rejecting his request for more time to mount a challenge and describing him as uncooperative.

  • March 05, 2025

    Black Colo. Homeowner Joins DOJ's Race Bias Refi Suit

    A Denver homeowner joined the federal government in its suit accusing Rocket Mortgage LLC and other parties in Colorado federal court of deliberately undervaluing her home because she's a Black woman.

  • March 05, 2025

    Construction Co. Not Covered For $11M Verdict, Insurer Says

    A construction company isn't entitled to coverage for an $11 million jury verdict against it in an underlying personal injury suit because the builder's policy excludes coverage for residential construction activities, an insurer told a Texas federal court.

  • March 05, 2025

    Lenders' Atty Reflects On FAPA's Foreclosure Fallout In NY

    After state lawmakers in 2022 passed changes to New York's foreclosure rules, lenders left defending a spike in lawsuits challenging once-established mortgage rights faced another setback with a recent state appeals court ruling upholding the legislation.

  • March 05, 2025

    Willkie Farr Partner Gets $23K Fee In Suit Over Media Tip

    A Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP partner has won the bulk of a $27,420 bid to recoup personal attorney fees after prevailing in a First Amendment feud with his former landlord's lawyer over a media leak, with a judge clipping just $3,550 for lack of a novel legal issue.

  • March 05, 2025

    Real Estate Lawyers On The Move

    Greenberg Traurig and Rosenberg & Estis are among the law firms that have made recent real estate or construction hires.

  • March 05, 2025

    Newmark Lines Up $275M Refi For NYC Multifamily Complex

    Newmark Group Inc. secured a $275 million loan that will refinance an 816-unit, two-tower multifamily complex in New York City's Financial District, the commercial real estate services company announced.

  • March 05, 2025

    Colorado's Last-Resort Insurer Partners With AI Analytics Co.

    Colorado's last-resort insurer has partnered with risk modeling company ZestyAI in an effort to improve insurance access for homeowners through the use of artificial intelligence-powered models for heightened climate risks, the company said Wednesday.

  • March 05, 2025

    Montana Tasks Tax Agency With Review Of Exempt Property

    Montana directed its Department of Revenue to establish a process to review property that is exempt from taxation under a bill signed by the governor.

  • March 05, 2025

    IRS Updates Foreign Housing Expense Limits For 2025

    The Internal Revenue Service released adjustments to the limitation on foreign housing expense deductions and exclusions for 2025 on Wednesday.

  • March 04, 2025

    DC Opposes RealPage Bid For Sanctions In Antitrust Case

    The District of Columbia and its attorneys at Cohen Milstein are opposing a bid for sanctions from RealPage in the district's rental pricing case, contending they have support for allegations about the company not wanting to work with landlords that reject its price recommendations.

  • March 04, 2025

    Attorneys Shift Gaze To Contracts As Trade Tensions Escalate

    Construction experts are racing to keep up with rapid changes from the White House on tariffs amid what's now becoming a full-fledged trade war, and are working out how best to allocate cost-increase risk in their contracts. Lawyers shared several contract excerpts with Law360 Real Estate Authority.

  • March 04, 2025

    Insurer Can't Escape Fla. Condo's Hurricane Damage Dispute

    An insurer can't escape a Florida condominium association's suit seeking coverage for property damage caused by a September 2020 hurricane, a New York federal court ruled, saying the association's update of a preexisting elevator replacement bid in light of storm damage was not clearly fraudulent conduct or misrepresentation.

  • March 04, 2025

    4th Circ. Finds No Harm In Facebook Ads For Young Renters

    The Fourth Circuit affirmed a Maryland federal court's dismissal of a would-be renter's proposed class action alleging age discrimination by the D.C. area's largest real estate firms Tuesday, finding that the plaintiff failed to show that she was harmed by the company's targeting of younger renters in Facebook ads.

  • March 04, 2025

    NY Creates Framework For County Tax On Short-Term Rentals

    New York established a framework for counties to impose tax on short-term rentals as part of a bill signed by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.

  • March 04, 2025

    DeSantis Backs Canning Fla. Rent Tax, Cutting Property Taxes

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called on state legislators Tuesday to eliminate the state's business rent tax on commercial leases and reaffirmed his pledge to support an effort by lawmakers to draft a constitutional amendment that would cut property taxes.

  • March 04, 2025

    PE Firm Bascom Buys LA County Apartments For $127M

    The Bascom Group, a private equity firm based in Irvine, California, has announced it acquired a 257-unit apartment complex in the Los Angeles area for $127 million.

  • March 03, 2025

    Real Estate Bills To Watch In Florida's Legislative Session

    Florida's annual two-month legislative session officially kicks off Tuesday, but lawmakers have already been at work drafting and filing bills. With a total of 1,821 bills filed between the two chambers before last Friday's deadline, a considerable number have the potential to impact real estate, with several likely to feature prominently in upcoming debates.

  • March 03, 2025

    9th Circ. Rejects Redo Of Antitrust Case Against Zillow, NAR

    The Ninth Circuit on Monday said it would not revive a defunct brokerage platform's case accusing Zillow and the National Association of Realtors of deception related to the online real estate company's website, saying there was no conspiracy in the way changes were made to how listings were displayed.

  • March 03, 2025

    Purlin Harnesses AI To Connect The Dots In Homebuying

    Law360's Proptech Profile series looks at California-based software company Purlin Co., whose founder has striven to combine business and technology principles to deliver AI-powered homebuying tools that he says align with consumers' wants while delivering superior efficiency and results for real estate providers.

  • March 03, 2025

    Mich. Homeowners Denied Cert. In RICO Foreclosure Suit

    A Michigan federal judge followed a recent string of decisions denying class certification to homeowners who allege local governments profited from the sales of their tax-foreclosed property, rejecting Wayne County residents' attempt to certify a class of people who say a racketeering scheme stripped them of their foreclosed homes' surplus equity.

  • March 03, 2025

    National Association Of Realtors Names New GC

    The National Association of Realtors has tapped its vice president of political advocacy as its new general counsel in the trade group's Washington, D.C., office.

  • March 03, 2025

    4th Circ. Backs Away From Contractor's Arbitration Fight

    The Fourth Circuit said Monday it doesn't have jurisdiction over a contractor's challenge to a couple's arbitration award for an incomplete home renovation project, citing the U.S. Supreme Court's holding that federal courts have jurisdiction only over motions to compel, but not vacate or confirm, arbitration awards.

  • March 03, 2025

    Treasury Halts Enforcement Of Corporate Transparency Act

    The U.S. Treasury Department won't enforce the Corporate Transparency Act on U.S. businesses and will change regulations so it only applies to foreign companies registered stateside, according to an announcement that activists said invites criminals into the U.S. and lawyers said could provoke judicial scrutiny.

Expert Analysis

  • CRA Plays Role In DOJ Fight Against Redlining

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent consent order with ESSA Bank & Trust is a reminder that although the Community Reinvestment Act lacks a civil enforcement provision, financial institutions' CRA compliance efforts may have ramifications under various anti-discrimination statutes, say Collin Grier and Levi Swank at Goodwin.

  • Colo. Eviction Case Could Transform Tenant Rights

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    The Colorado Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in a case that could open the door for tenants to assert allegations of discrimination and retaliation during eviction proceedings, and dramatically prolong the state's process, says Jacob Hollars at Spencer Fane.

  • Harsh 11th Circ. Rebuke Should Inspire Changes At CFPB

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    The Eleventh Circuit's recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Brown decision, which found the CFPB's conduct had been egregious in a debt collection enforcement action, should encourage some reflection at the bureau regarding its level of attention to the reasonable due process concerns of regulated institutions, says Eric Mogilnicki at Covington.

  • 3 Alternatives To CRE Collateralized Loan Obligations

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    With current commercial real estate market conditions pushing issuers away from collateralized loan obligations, several Freddie Mac offerings should be considered as alternative exit strategies for mortgage loans secured by multifamily properties, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • Fla. Banking Brief: All The Notable Compliance Updates In Q2

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    Florida financial institutions must now navigate minimum interest rates for attorney trust accounts, restrictions on property sales to prohibited foreigners, and a ban on weighing environmental, social and governance factors to determine a customer's creditworthiness — changes that will add to banks' compliance pressures, says Patricia Hernandez at Avila Rodriguez.

  • NY Court Sends Mixed Signals On Contested Foreclosure Law

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    Although New York's Appellate Division, Second Department, has avoided addressing the constitutionality and retroactive application of the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act, its conflicting pattern of applying FAPA to existing cases is creating confusion regarding the future of the law, say Christopher Gorman and John Muldoon at Abrams Fensterman and litigation support analyst Robert Marx.

  • Expect CFPB Scrutiny On AI In Lending

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    As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau prioritizes regulatory oversight of the financial services industry's use of automated systems and artificial technology, it will need to balance regulation and innovation, and companies should prepare to mitigate any potential for bias or unfair, deceptive or abusive acts and practices, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • Texas Construction Statute Of Repose Leaves Open Questions

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    Texas' new significantly shorter statute of repose barring certain suits against construction contractors contains some ambiguous wording that will likely raise questions to be decided by courts, says Mason Hester at Munsch Hardt.

  • In The CFPB Playbook: Abuse Policy, PACE, Payment Apps

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    From defining "abusive" conduct to implementing green energy financing to policing payment apps, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was busy last quarter. Akerman's Nora Rigby discusses all this and more in the first installment of bureau activity recaps by former CFPB personnel.

  • How To Avoid Flopping When Flipping Fla. Real Estate

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    As land prices rise, Florida real estate developers are increasingly contracting to flip property to other purchasers for a profit, and they should carefully consider the unique risks and issues associated with the different forms that the process can take, says Gary Kaleita at Lowndes.

  • States Must Fight Predatory Real Estate Listing Agreements

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    As momentum against long-term real estate listing agreements continues to grow, states should take action to render existing agreements unenforceable and discourage future unfair and deceptive trade practices in real estate, says Elizabeth Blosser at the American Land Title Association.

  • Steps To Success For Senior Associates

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Adriana Paris at Rissman Barrett discusses the increased responsibilities and opportunities that becoming a senior associate brings and what attorneys in this role should prioritize to flourish in this stressful but rewarding next level in their careers.

  • Ohio Tax Talk: Building On Federal Affordable Housing Credit

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    Ohio's soon-to-be-implemented low-income housing tax credit could significantly affect the state's affordable housing landscape and influence tax-credit deal financing for these projects, though Senate changes may have dampened the new credit's immense potential, say Raghav Agnihotri and Rachael Chamberlain at Frost Brown.